So what does one experience being part of the live
sound team working for Friday performances and other
events and especially at the recital hall? Well, before
you put on your critical spectacles and gripe hat,
sound reinforcement means team work, and it is also
hard. Every sound location presents certain difficulties
and it is your duty either as a sound engineer or
stage crew or system personnel to ensure that you
try to overcome as many problems as you can only to
make sure the show runs smooth.
Recital hall: ICOM
Many of you reading this might have already performed
or sat amidst the audience at the recital hall and
tried to analyze the sound emanating from the stage
and the speakers. No venue will be the perfect place,
even the most properly designed venues might have
some problems to overcome, that's where the sound
crew comes in; trained professionals with their experience
and knowledge in different areas of sound reinforcement
provide for a pleasant sounding event.
Every
engineer who has given sound for a Friday performance
knows that the task at hand is not easy because you
are working with at least 5 to 6 different performers
every week and sometimes more and you are dealing
with sound that comes in different 'tonal shades'
from the stage and it is the task of the engineer
to deliver a clean sounding event for all the ears
that listen every Friday, which isn't that easy, especially
if it is your first time on the board. Also, if you
sit in the hall and ponder about the acoustics, architectural
design & dimension factors, they might seem- to
many of you- 'obstructing' the smooth flow of sound.
That's another reason why you should join the club
and think of ways in which sound can be evenly dispersed
or at least experience the whole event-technically
and develop your understanding.
Before
an engineer resorts to blaming a bad sounding event
on the problem of acoustics, or quality of equipment,
he or she must think whether they have made the
best use of whatever they had at their disposal.
Now, you all must be thinking that this sort of
work ethic requires considerable experience. Well,
how does one get experience then? By doing a particular
task over and over again, thereby increasing your
efficiency and knowledge. So hopefully, many who
are reading this will begin to sow their seeds of
'experience' right early on itself.
